


Summer scrapbook

by raggedy_ginger



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Pines Twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 14:25:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6119224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raggedy_ginger/pseuds/raggedy_ginger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel was the type of person to document every last minute of her precious summer with her family, whether it was in photos , letters or her irregular diary entries.<br/>And so we finally get to see the mornings and movie nights, the angst and arguments and of course the mysteries and Pine madness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mornings

Mornings in the Mystery Shack were not filled with yoga and drinking spring water while watching the sunrise. The Pines family did not occupy themselves with early morning exercise with a healthy breakfast. Instead , they battled for the last bowl of cereal. 

Mabel crept as silently as she could through the creaky shack, her glitter laden pyjamas leaving a shiny trail. The house was completely silent except for the occasional thud when she tripped in her glitter trail. As the brunette neared the lounge she let herself grin smugly, already picturing her prize. She didn't notice the hostile glare directed at her from the dark corner of the passage, or the low growl that echoed as the owner of the eyes snuck forward to draw near to her as she approached the kitchen. The figure behind her pulled a string running along the wall and cackled as he saw his great niece trip over the raised string further down the passage. His cackling was cut short by Mabel's grappling hook wrapping around his legs and pulling them out from under him. His breath whooshed out of him and she grinned and winked at him , tucking her grappling hook into the depths of her sweater and sauntering past him. "Looks like it's coffee and disappointment for your breakfast , Grunkle Stan." The older man scowled and wormed his way to the kitchen snapping at her heels as he went. Mabel jumped and darted forward. As they reached the kitchen Stan managed to trip her again and she went down, fighting bitterly against her Grunkle who was worming his way to the cupboard.  
"I will be enjoying that cereal!" Mabel cried out stubbornly."I bought that cereal , kid !" He growled and wiggled forward as she tugged backwards on his legs. "I am your charge for the summer it's state law that I get the last bowl of cereal!" Stan snorted at her reasoning. "Respect your elders! " He griped as Mabel stood on his head to reach the Cupboard . She had just grabbed the box when he jerked his head forward and she slipped and fell onto her Grunkle's broad chest , he grunted at her weight and she yelped as the cereal box flew out of her hand and out of the open window. The two watched as a pterodactyl swooped by and snatched the box out of the air. There was silence as Mabel and Stan stared after the retreating dinosaur, Mabel sat on his chest looking forlorn while Stan frowned through angry eyebrows. After several minutes they looked at each other questioningly. 

"Breakfast at the diner?"

"Breakfast at the diner."


	2. Craftageddon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel decides to have another one of her craft days, and as always she needs an unwilling assistant. Stan and Dipper are knowledgeable enough to flee the shack and their relatives frightening creativity.  
> Ford isn't.

Ford was not scared of many things, not after what he went through in his lifetime. He used to consider himself fearless, at least until he began to love and cherish his little family and worried about losing them. And now he actually feared his great niece.. 

"I declare this to be a day of crafts and arts! " Mabel had announced that morning at breakfast. Dipper and Stan had paled and abandoned their breakfast to hastily leave the shack for a supposed errand in town. Mabel had turned her wide eyes and unsettling grin on him. " Wanna help out your favourite relative with some relaxing craft projects ?" And Ford had nodded and smiled enthusiastically at her, he would gladly take advantage of any opportunity to bond with his new family. 

Several hours later and Stanford didn't know whether he regretted his decision or not. But every time he thought of excusing himself to go and hide in his lab his heart would clench suddenly as he looked at Mabel, and he found he couldn't actually stand to see the disappointment on her cheerful face. So instead, he stayed and dipped macaroni in glitter and then glued it to his brothers fez in the shape of a heart, because Mabel had told him he needed to show love for his estranged twin more often. Ford didn't think his brother would appreciate the gesture but he did not dare to disagree with her. "Grunkle Ford ?" He smiled at the name. " Yes , Mabel? " Ford replied as he put the finishing touches on Stan's fez. " Do you still want us all to leave the shack ?" He froze at her subdued query and glanced up to see the usually bright Mabel staring at the floor and fidgeting with her sweater. Ford leaned forward and made eye contact with her. "I'm not going to hurt anyone from my family hurt like that ever again. Besides , who else would keep my brother out of trouble if not for us three. " A smile found its way onto her face and Ford returned it. "If we all are going to stay then you'll need this!" Her change in mood puzzled Ford and he stared after her as she darted up to her room and came thundering back down the stairs with a box in her hands. " Close your eyes!" She said beaming and Ford sighed and did as she asked, he was going soft. Something soft and fluffy was placed in his hands. He opened his eyes to see a red sweater much like his own in his hands. Mabel rolled her eyes at his confusion and unfolded the sweater so he could see the front. "I made one for Dipper and Stan. I've also got one but Waddles ate it again." Ford looked at his great niece and then back at the careful embroidery on the sweater. 'Property of the Pines family.' It stated boldly. "And since you're staying... well , I thought you should have one... Do you like it ?" Mabel asked nervously. Ford shook his head and tried to get a hold of his emotions. He hadn't had anyone do anything so kind for him for over thirty years. " If you don't like I can make something else or-" She was cut off when her grunkle pulled her into a tight hug. "I love it , Mabel." She smiled and hugged him back. When Dipper and Stan returned that afternoon they walked into find the shack strewn with glitter, macaroni , bits of paper and even swatches of fabric. But they didn't find their respective twins. At least not until they both walked into the lounge and saw the two sprawled on the floor in a cesspool of craft materials. Ford was lying spreadeagled on the floor , his hair tousled and his glasses covered in scratch n' sniff stickers. Mabel was curled up against his side , her long hair tickling Ford's face making him snuffle in his sleep. Dipper smiled fondly as he recognised the sweater that his sister had worked so hard on for their new grunkle. Stan ignored the clenching of his chest as he watched his little family snooze and layed a blanket over them. With a smile he crept out of the room with Dipper , not able to resist throwing a look over his shoulder. He did however miss Ford opening his eyes to smile after his brother and great nephew. "Perhaps crafts with Mabel aren't so bad." He thought before going back to sleep.


	3. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Stan managed to escape Mabel's craftageddon in the previous chapter but what chaos did they cause?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is centred around Stan and Dipper and what they got up to while Ford and Mabel released their creativity in the last chapter.
> 
> I'm not happy with this chapter but I had to post something.   
> It turns out it's not easy to write Gravity Falls fluff while watching Hannibal.

"This is to be a day of crafts!" 

Dipper paused in shovelling cereal into his mouth to share a look of horror with his Grunkle. They both remembered the last time she had said the exact same phrase. That day had ended with a war with the fairy population of Gravity Falls because Mabel had stolen their fairy dust to use as glitter. They couldn't reminisce for long however, if they wanted to escape Mabel's creative clutches time was of the essence. Dipper and Stan nodded at each other. It was time to instigate the Escape from Mabel Plan. Dipper grabbed his vest, a bowl of half eaten cereal and the car keys. Stan grabbed a pair of pants and the two were out the door and in the car before Ford could even question it. The tyres of the old car squealed as they raced away. It was only on the road to the town did they start to relax, Dipper continued to eat his cereal and his Grunkle continued trying to get remaining leg in his pants. The younger Pines male was not concerned, his Grunkle was a pro at her dressing and driving. "So," He said when his relative was decent." What now ?"

Stan shrugged and the car swerved at the action, Dipper expertly manoeuvred his bowl so that none of his cereal spilled. He continued to munch on his cereal as Stan drove into the small town of Gravity Falls. He pulled into the parking lot of the diner and they climbed out of the car and walked into the diner.  
The two sat at their usual booth and pretended to scan the menu as if they were going to order.  
"So kid , what are we gonna do while we wait for Mabel's crazy craft mood to pass?" Stan asked Dipper who for once seemed nervous and shy around his relative.  
There was a pause before he looked up at his Grunkle.  
"What... what did you and Great Uncle Ford do when you were kids?" The older man looked up at him in surprise.  
When faced with the earnest expression on his nephew's face he found he couldn't use his usual technique of gruffly dismissing the question. 

He sat back in his seat and scratched his head.  
"I dunno, kid. It was a long time ago..."  
His face crumpled in disappointment and he slouched in his seat. Stan sighed and Dipper knew he'd won.  
"Fine , I'll tell you a few things about how me and my brother grew up."  
The younger Pines leaned forward eagerly. 

"We grew up on Glass Shard Beach. The family owned a small flat on the beachfront. Our mom was your typical scam artist, always looking for a quick buck. I dunno why she ended up with our father. Or how they even stayed together. He was one of those honest guys, he respected money and hard work. Immediately you can tell that I wasn't the favourite son.  
But that was okay, Stanford and I were as close as you and Mabel back then.  
I remember whole days spent on the beach with him. We'd make up our own world's and stories, imagining ourselves as heroes and pirates." 

A wistful tone had entered his voice as he reminisced. Dipper noticed the longing his relative unconsciously expressed and his eyes softened in sympathy.

"One of my favourite memories of our childhood was during high school. Things had been really bad for a while, our father had been especially tough on me. Stanford was too involved with his science stuff to be much help to me. He was building his perpetual motion machine at the time.  
So to get away from everyone I started spending more and more time at the beach.  
Usually I worked on our boat or tried to catch up in school work. But I never understood the work so I gave up on that completely and just worked on the boat. Eventually I was at the beach so much that I actually moved some of my stuff there.  
One day things at home got worse than usual... I got out of the house as soon as I woke up that morning,I headed straight for the beach. Spent the whole day there. And when night fell I stayed.  
I didn't expect anyone to come looking for me. But it must have been some ungodly hour of the night when I heard someone calling for me.  
It was Stanford, the idiot had come out of his science daze and realised I'd been gone the entire day. So he apparently ran all the way to the beach to find me.  
I nearly caved his head in with a baseball bat when he jumped out at me.  
I know this doesn't sound like a great memory but after he found me he stayed with me. We spent the night talking like we used to, how we'd travel the world together. He told me he was sorry for not being a good brother... "  
Stan trailed off as he stared out the window, lost in thought.  
Dipper was unsure of how to deal with his quiet relative, he was used to him being loud and obnoxious.

"It's one of my favourite memories because it's one of the few positive memories I have from before I was disowned and abandoned. From before I lost my brother to himself..." 

Dipper finally realised what his great uncle had gone through , he recognised the loss of his family and home and any stability that Stan might have had.  
He knew that Mabel would have the right words to fix this , to fix their Grunkle. But he wasn't Mabel.  
So he thought over how to reply. It was a while before he was satisfied with the words in his mind. 

"You know Great Uncle Ford told me a few things too...  
He told me that he remembers the times when you would chase his bullies across town because he told you he felt like a freak whenever he saw them. He told me about the High Six thing...  
He told me that when he was in that portal the one thing that kept him from going insane was you. And also the thought of punching you but that's irrelevant."  
Stan looked at him with an incredulous expression.  
"He said all that?"  
Dipper nodded with a hesitant smile.  
"Yeah."  
The older Pines male smiled and Dipper smiled in relief.

"Alright , kid. Since I'm in a good mood you can order something for once."  
Dipper stared at him suspiciously before deciding to order immediately before his Grunkle changed his mind. Stan stared at him with raised eyebrows as he watched Dipper call over a waiter and order a burger and fries and a milkshake. He ordered the same. The two spoke until they didn't know what they spoke of.  
They didn't even realise the time until Stan complained about being old, tired and cold. Dipper knew that was what Stan said every night as it got colder and as he looked out the window he saw that the sky was indeed darkening.  
Stan paid and they drove back to the shack. He glanced at his nephew and smiled fondly as he saw he had fallen asleep.  
He woke when they pulled in front of the Shack. 

They both stumbled sleepily into the house , avoiding piles of glitter and string. Dipper fell asleep as soon as he collapsed on the couch. Stan draped a blanket over him and let himself fall onto his own couch. 

As he fell asleep his mind was filled with memories of sunshine, sea sand , a boat and his brother.

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically a collection of Gravity Falls one shots they can be anything from AUs like Monster Falls and teenage Dipper and Mabel. Some stuff will deviate from Canon to form different outcomes. Or maybe it will just be fluffy family moments. 
> 
> Prompts or requests are very much needed , so fire away ♥


End file.
